Hospice housewarming

Open house and dedication Sept. 16 signals the end of construction, but the need for funds and volunteers continues for program designed to comfort those at the end of life

Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2009

Click here to enlarge this photo Submitted photo Workers are hustling to put the finishing touches on Hospice House of St. Mary's in Callaway, which will host an open house and dedication ceremony Sept. 16. E-Mail This Article | Print This Story

Inside, it smelled like fresh paint. Beds, chairs and other furniture were wrapped in foam and stacked in otherwise empty rooms. Workers were busy, installing a drop ceiling in the conference room.

Outside, a dump truck chugged away with a load of red dirt removed for storm drainage. Another truck delivered bales of straw to protect new landscaping features.

The Hospice House of St. Mary's is almost ready for its unveiling. It's finally done. Invitations have been sent out for the dedication and open house on Sept. 16.

At a walk-through on Friday, Vince Merz of Wildewood, chairman of the hospice house committee and a member of the board of directors for Hospice of St. Mary's, noted the bustle of workers trying to get everything ready for the long-awaited opening of the hospice house

"Well, I'm encouraged," Merz said, as he prepared to leave.

The facility will serve as the new offices for hospice staff and provide a homelike atmosphere with onsite medical care for hospice patients at the end of their lives.

It's been a dream of many for years and the focus of an intensive fundraising campaign.

The process began approximately four years ago. "I think the business plan was approved around 2005," Merz said.

The goal of the fundraising campaign was $4 million. The estimate to build was approximately $2.2 million. "The remainder was to establish an endowment," Merz said. Hospice houses generally operate at a deficit. The expectation is that the deficit will run from $200,000 to $300,000 a year, requiring that endowment.

So far, $3.2 million has been raised.

So, while the facility is preparing to open, "the campaign is not over," Merz emphasized.

He noted that the fundraising for this hospice house was unusual compared to experiences in other locations. Other hospice houses contacted in the St. Mary's County process said their facilities were built largely from one or two fantastically large donations. The St. Mary's facility, however, was much more a community effort.

"I think the community support has been tremendous," said Dave Spore, a member of the board and a volunteer caregiver with hospice, who also stopped by the almost finished hospice house to gauge progress on Friday.

In fact, while the campaign has benefited from legacy donors — individuals or businesses that donated $10,000 or more — a little more than 60 percent of the current total came from small donations, fundraisers and memorial contributions.

But Merz emphasizes that fundraising will need to continue. Two upcoming fundraising events include a performance by the Lipizzan stallions on Oct. 16 to 18 at Bubby Knott's Flat Iron Farm and a bluegrass concert organized by Jay Armsworthy will be held Oct. 24, also at the farm.

In addition to the ongoing need for fundraising, hospice continues to need volunteer assistance.

"Hospice depends very heavily on volunteers," Merz said. However, with the opening of the hospice house, the kinds of volunteer opportunities and needs will suddenly change. "Now, we need housekeepers, cooking, cleaning, shopping, lawn care, garden maintenance," Merz said.

For those most interested in assisting the hospice house with donations, administrators have set up gift registry accounts at both Target and Walmart that they will keep updated to let donors know what the facility's specific needs are. "That way, you wouldn't be buying something we didn't need," Merz said.

While the community in general will be introduced to the new hospice house at the Sept. 16 open house, hospice staff will move its offices to the new building this week. The hospice house won't be prepared to take patients until next month, although Kathy Franzen, director of Hospice of St. Mary's, said her office has already received inquiries about openings in the hospice house's six patient suites.

The hospice house is designed to serve as a place for people to spend the last weeks of their lives, receiving the medical care they need in a peaceful, homelike setting with easy access to family members. It is designed for people already under hospice care who are then referred to the service if it is considered a good option. Those who can pay for the service will be asked to do so, but ability to pay will ultimately not be an issue, Merz said.

"No one is ever turned away because of inability to pay," he said.

Merz and Spore walked through the entire facility Friday, stepping aside for the workers putting in the finishing touches to the new facility.

"It's great," Spore said with a smile. "It's a dream long in the coming, and we're going to be excited to get in here … It looks beautiful."

Merz agreed. "I think it's something we can all be proud of to have in the community for folks."

scraton@somdnews.com

If you want to go

A dedication ceremony and open house for the Hospice House of St. Mary's will be held Wednesday, Sept. 16, from 3 to 6 p.m., with remarks at 3:30 p.m. at the hospice house on Hospice Lane in Callaway. For planning purposes, organizers ask that participants RSVP by Sept. 11 at 301-475-6008. The new facility is located off Aster Drive in Cox's Run.

For information on volunteering, call the hospice office at its new number, after the open house, at 301-994-3023.